Mini-volcanoes (mud or lava?) near Zhurong’s Mars landing site
Click here, here, and here for full images.
Cool image time! Though we still do not know exactly where the Chinese Mars rover Zhurong landed on Mars, we have a rough idea based on the latitude and longitude numbers leaked to the Chinese press in October 2020 and were apparently confirmed by photos taken by the Tianwen-1 orbiter soon after reaching Mars. We also know Zhurong’s engineers wanted to land in the northern lowland plains dubbed Utopia Planitia, a region that is relatively flat and thus makes a safe landing spot for their first attempt to reach the surface of Mars.
The mosaic to the right, rotated and reduced to post here, is made from three context camera images taken by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The white cross on the right edge is essentially Zhurong’s leaked landing spot. The red box indicates the area covered by one of only two photos that China has released that were taken by its Tianwen-1 orbiter.
The white box in the upper left shows the area covered by today’s cool image, shown below.
Click for full image.
The photo was taken on April 29, 2021 by MRO’s high resolution camera and is rotated, cropped, and reduced to post here. It was also taken only a few weeks prior to Zhurong’s successful landing. Requested by planetary scientist Alfred McEwen of the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory in Arizona, its goal was to take a close look at part of that strange circular feature visible in the mosaic above that lies about 24 miles to the northwest of Zhurong’s landing spot. As McEwen explained, this area of Utopia Planitia…
…may be the location of really voluminous eruption of muddy sediments, perhaps the remnants of an ancient ocean. Or maybe it was lava. The pitted cones are a key feature, and two of them formed right over the ringed graben (tectonic downdrop). It is generally thought that the ringed structures are from differential compaction or settling of muddy sediments or lava over an impact crater.
In other words, the ringed structure formed when the the interior floor dropped downward to create a circular cliff. The shape and location of the drop took place above a buried crater and was shaped by it. What buried the crater is as yet undetermined, though it is thought that was was either lava or mud flows.
The most interesting feature to McEwen are the pitted cones, one of which is in the high-res image above. It formed over the cliff, suggesting that when the ground shifted down it created a fissure where material below could push upward to form this mini-volcano. As McEwen notes, what that material was remains unknown. Molten lava is one possibility. So is mud.
There are many such pitted cones found in this region of Utopia Planitia. McEwen is especially hopeful that Zhurong can reach one and determine whether they are lava or mud volcanoes. He admits however that it is “probably too far away for the rover to reach it.”
Maybe. We don’t yet know Zhurong’s exact landing spot. It could have touched down very close to this spot. Or not. Moreover, though it only has a 90 day mission, if it functions well there is no reason it could not last longer and travel far more than 1,300 feet.
I am certain the MRO science team will be taking images in an effort to locate Zhurong, since we cannot depend on China’s secretive government to tell us. Once we know however we will be able to pinpoint its most likely geological targets, as well as identify features in any images the Chinese eventually release.
Hopefully these features will be one of those targets, as figuring out how they formed will help explain a lot about the geological history of this northern lowland plain, including whether there ever was an intermittent ocean here.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Click here, here, and here for full images.
Cool image time! Though we still do not know exactly where the Chinese Mars rover Zhurong landed on Mars, we have a rough idea based on the latitude and longitude numbers leaked to the Chinese press in October 2020 and were apparently confirmed by photos taken by the Tianwen-1 orbiter soon after reaching Mars. We also know Zhurong’s engineers wanted to land in the northern lowland plains dubbed Utopia Planitia, a region that is relatively flat and thus makes a safe landing spot for their first attempt to reach the surface of Mars.
The mosaic to the right, rotated and reduced to post here, is made from three context camera images taken by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The white cross on the right edge is essentially Zhurong’s leaked landing spot. The red box indicates the area covered by one of only two photos that China has released that were taken by its Tianwen-1 orbiter.
The white box in the upper left shows the area covered by today’s cool image, shown below.
Click for full image.
The photo was taken on April 29, 2021 by MRO’s high resolution camera and is rotated, cropped, and reduced to post here. It was also taken only a few weeks prior to Zhurong’s successful landing. Requested by planetary scientist Alfred McEwen of the Lunar & Planetary Laboratory in Arizona, its goal was to take a close look at part of that strange circular feature visible in the mosaic above that lies about 24 miles to the northwest of Zhurong’s landing spot. As McEwen explained, this area of Utopia Planitia…
…may be the location of really voluminous eruption of muddy sediments, perhaps the remnants of an ancient ocean. Or maybe it was lava. The pitted cones are a key feature, and two of them formed right over the ringed graben (tectonic downdrop). It is generally thought that the ringed structures are from differential compaction or settling of muddy sediments or lava over an impact crater.
In other words, the ringed structure formed when the the interior floor dropped downward to create a circular cliff. The shape and location of the drop took place above a buried crater and was shaped by it. What buried the crater is as yet undetermined, though it is thought that was was either lava or mud flows.
The most interesting feature to McEwen are the pitted cones, one of which is in the high-res image above. It formed over the cliff, suggesting that when the ground shifted down it created a fissure where material below could push upward to form this mini-volcano. As McEwen notes, what that material was remains unknown. Molten lava is one possibility. So is mud.
There are many such pitted cones found in this region of Utopia Planitia. McEwen is especially hopeful that Zhurong can reach one and determine whether they are lava or mud volcanoes. He admits however that it is “probably too far away for the rover to reach it.”
Maybe. We don’t yet know Zhurong’s exact landing spot. It could have touched down very close to this spot. Or not. Moreover, though it only has a 90 day mission, if it functions well there is no reason it could not last longer and travel far more than 1,300 feet.
I am certain the MRO science team will be taking images in an effort to locate Zhurong, since we cannot depend on China’s secretive government to tell us. Once we know however we will be able to pinpoint its most likely geological targets, as well as identify features in any images the Chinese eventually release.
Hopefully these features will be one of those targets, as figuring out how they formed will help explain a lot about the geological history of this northern lowland plain, including whether there ever was an intermittent ocean here.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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